Just over a year ago, we broke the news that an Are You Afraid of the Dark? movie was in production, making all of our early nineties kid dreams come true. There hasn’t been much development since but now it seems there may be even more on the way than we bargained for.
Are You Afraid Of The Dark? was a super Canadian concoction that played on Nickelodeon way back in the day. It was, by all accounts, considerably more nightmare-inducing than its younger sibling Goosebumps (which already got a brilliant big screen adaptation, followed by a so-so sequel).
A whole bunch of soon-to-be huge stars had cameos over the series’ seven-season run including Ryan Gosling, Neve Campbell, and loads more. The show actually ran until the turn of the millennium but, for most of us, it’s a nineties gem whose darkness we probably still couldn’t handle in adulthood (just me?).
We already know the cult favorite is set to become a movie with Gary Dauberman (who penned this year’s horror hit IT, along with, er, Annabelle: Creation) tapped to write the script. Plot details have still yet to be revealed, but suffice to say the right people are behind the reboot.
Now, it seems we may have something to sate our appetite in the meantime as, according to Comicbook, there’s a miniseries on the way too — not instead of the movie, either, but to go alongside it.
As per the press release from Nickelodeon, Are You Afraid of the Dark? will return this coming October as a brand-new miniseries following an entirely different Midnight Society as they gather around the requisite campfire to tell scary stories in the dark (hopefully without their iPhones).
The upcoming miniseries will coincide with the release of the movie, which is due in theaters on October 4, 2019.
Fans have been speculating for months about how a film adaptation of the cult anthology series would work, but Dauberman promised it will stay true to the Are You Afraid of the Dark? spirit. Speaking to SlashFilm, the writer advised:
That show is so important to me. I didn’t want to age it down too much because for its time, it had some really disturbing episodes and some really dark episodes. Not every story the Midnight Society told ended with happily ever after or a person learning their lesson and it will never happen again
He further elaborated on what kids, in particular, can expect from the upcoming flick:
I think fear is healthy for kids. I don’t think we have to always sand down the edges of things and that’s something I really wanted to do with Are You Afraid of the Dark? I think it is scary and I think kids will be scared watching it at times, and also they’ll laugh at times. I think it’s got a great message. I think it’s got a great heart to it but it is still scary. I think that’s great. I think it’s going to open it up to a wider audience
Either way, there’s plenty for readers of a certain age to look forward to, while a whole new generation can prepare to be scared out of their minds by the Midnight Society’s latest tales.
Stay tuned to Wicked Horror for more on both upcoming adaptations as we learn it.
